Chick 270
by Cristae270
The sight was so surreal that even the voice in his earpiece seemed unable to register in his mind.
Min Dongwoo dashed at full speed toward the second-floor railing. He kept bumping into people, but didn’t have the presence of mind to apologize.
‘Where is she going?!’
Panting, he scoured the second floor with frantic eyes.
‘Can’t see her…?’
He rubbed his brow and lowered his head.
Think.
A child can’t have gone far.
If that child is doing this deliberately to interfere with us…
Then, the next probable destination is—here.
Bang!
He flung open the door of an empty office.
There, the child with time bombs balanced on her head was using a fork as a lever to pry free a piton—a gold climbing pin embedded in the window frame.
The time bombs were due to detonate, marking the spot where the rope would be anchored. It was a special piton—part of the plan—and now the child’s fork had nearly yanked it free.
Pop!
“Big one!” Groo shouted triumphantly, lifting her prize.
“What are you doing?!”
As he burst in, both the child and the mascot turned to look at him.
The mascot took a protective step forward, cutting off his line of sight to the child.
- Can I help you?
“If… If you do that, it’s going to be a problem… you…”
Min Dongwoo looked the mascot up and down.
“An intern? A temp?”
The mascot tilted its head slightly, then silently nodded.
- Temp.
He didn’t know how a temp and a child had ended up working together to hinder his plan, but—
‘Looks like I’ll have to deal with both of them.’
He glanced behind the mascot, sizing up his chances.
The child, clutching the time bombs tightly, had her fur all but bristling like an angry cat.
Treating the bomb as if it were treasure—just looking at her made his head spin.
Hiding his right hand behind his back, ready to pull a weapon from his inventory if necessary, Min Dongwoo asked,
“Who sent you two to do this?”
- …?
The mascot cocked its head.
- Wasn’t it the Management Bureau’s idea?
The response made Min Dongwoo blink in confusion.
If the Bureau knew, there’d be an emergency broadcast—and no child would be running around with a time bomb.
While he stood there baffled, Groo peeked out from behind the mascot.
“Are you the agent who’s going to exchange these for treasure?”
“Treasure?”
“Yup! I collected them all!”
Groo held up the bombs.
Ah. At last, a plausible scenario flashed through his mind.
‘Someone must have told the child that gathering the bombs would get her a treasure.’
Was it a Bureau staffer?
No. Jin Siwon or any of the Bureau’s people wouldn’t do something so elaborate.
Most likely, it was somebody who couldn’t walk around the Bureau freely.
If so, what was the purpose…?
‘…To interfere with the Alex Von rescue. But without getting caught by the Bureau staff…’
“You’re not a secret agent?” the child asked, blinking at him.
The mascot, head still tilted, fixed him with a steady gaze.
Is he suspicious? Min Dongwoo rapidly worked through his thoughts.
“No, no! I am the secret agent. I was just testing to see if you were truly on our side.”
“Ooh! So, will you give me the treasure?”
“Of course, I’ll exchange it for treasure. Will you follow me?”
“Okay!”
Groo skipped along with a spring in her step, the mascot Honghong silently trailing behind her.
Min Dongwoo glanced their way, then made for the deserted rooftop.
First, he would subdue the two in private, seize their phones, and find out who’d set this all in motion.
- Wait.
But suddenly, the mascot Honghong, who had been following quietly, raised a hand.
- Password.
“…What?”
- You have to say the password, secret agent.
“P-Password?”
Was there a password?
Flustered, Min Dongwoo’s mouth hung open.
Groo, equally lost, turned round-eyed to look at the pair.
Just then, Honghong let out a soft laugh.
Whether there was a password or not hardly mattered.
Joorim simply found it suspicious that he was heading somewhere so remote, so he’d asked for a password.
The man’s deeply tanned skin and the gait of an experienced fighter.
He looked more like a mercenary than a Bureau employee.
- You don’t know the password, do you?
“No, I just forgot for a second because I’m nervous…”
- Too bad, then.
Seeing how rattled he was, it was clear to Groo that this man wasn’t the secret agent she’d been told of.
Honghong calmly took the bombs from Groo, stacking them up in his own hands.
And then he crushed them.
“Ahh!”
“…!”
Groo yelped, and Min Dongwoo hurled himself aside.
But, contrary to what he’d expected, the explosion didn’t engulf them—the office was eerily silent.
Arms over his head, Min Dongwoo cautiously raised his eyes.
The explosion was raging in the palm of the mascot Honghong’s hand.
He’d formed a shield no bigger than a small ball, containing the threat entirely within so it wouldn’t spread.
Each device packed enough punch to blow out the entire office.
Yet the monster in the mascot suit handled them as if they were nothing, detonating them in the palm of his hand.
The creature who so casually set off the bombs in his hand said lazily,
- These are real, huh?
Gulp.
Min Dongwoo got to his feet, swallowing dryly, and opened his inventory.
Before he realized it, a combat knife was in his hand.
‘I have to strike first.’
Standing before this inhuman monster, the instinct honed by countless battles took over.
But as Min Dongwoo lunged, his wrist was snatched in an instant.
“…!”
He was an A-rank mercenary—how could anyone grab his wrist so easily?
Murderous intent emanated from behind the ugly tiger mask. Cold sweat broke out on his skin.
‘This… is just a temp at the Bureau…?’
That was his last thought before everything went black, as if a fuse was pulled.
Min Dongwoo collapsed to the ground.
- Hmm…
Joorim crouched over the fallen Min Dongwoo and confirmed that his badge was a fake, tilting his head.
Meanwhile, Groo looked down at him, feeling utterly betrayed.
In shock, she let her mouth fall open.
“Honghong….”
- What?
Groo skittered backward and clapped both hands over her mouth.
“Honghong killed the secret agent to steal Groo’s treasure!”
“Beeeep—!”
Mephisto, equally shocked, covered his mouth with his wings.
Joorim shouted, appalled at such an absurd conclusion.
- That’s not true!
But by now, Groo had already pulled a fork out of her inventory, gripping it firmly.
“Well then?”
- This man was pretending to be a secret agent. See? It’s a fake.
He quickly snatched up Min Dongwoo’s badge.
Removing Min Dongwoo’s photo revealed another person underneath.
He must have stolen another badge and stuck his own picture on top.
Groo gasped.
“Gasp! A villain?!”
- That’s right, a villain.
Something occurred to Joorim, and he asked,
- Now, what should you do at a time like this?
“At a time like this?”
Groo gaped at him.
Looking at her vacant expression, Joorim repeated himself.
- When you’re in danger. When you’re scared.
Groo shook her head.
- Aren’t you scared?
“Nope.”
Her cheeks were flushed.
Groo, eyebrows raised sharply, shaped her mouth into a triangle.
“It’s more fun.”
- ….
Joorim was at a loss for words, while Groo gripped her fork tightly.
“Mephi, let’s go hunt villains.”
“Beep!”
Mephisto spread both wings in answer.
Joorim wiped his face in exasperation at the sight of such a tiny dopamine addict.
Apparently, his educational efforts had been in vain.
Ignoring his concerns, Groo nudged Min Dongwoo half-over with her fork.
Thud—
“Hmm?”
Groo picked up something that rolled out from him.
On the rooftop of the building across the street, Stacey peered through binoculars into the Bureau, bantering with her partner on comms.
“Looks like Plan One’s a bust.”
Click, click—she idly pressed the remote switch.
If the bombs were still intact, they’d have detonated the instant she pressed it, regardless of the timer.
“What happened?”
“As you can see, nothing’s happening when I hit the switch. No sign of Min, either.”
“That idiot… Did he get caught?”
Brady ground his teeth.
Sitting on the rooftop railing, Stacey folded her arms and muttered,
“Strangely quiet inside the Bureau. It’s like nothing happened at all.”
“…How long until Alex Von gets transferred?”
“Thirty minutes.”
Brady didn’t waste another moment. Pulling a gorilla mask completely over his head, he spoke into the comm.
—Switch to Plan Two.
Stacey, donning a cheetah mask, jingled her keys in reply.
—Okay.